


So Much Easier

by jamming_out



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, Fights, Homophobia, Mild Blood, Mutual Pining, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24289837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamming_out/pseuds/jamming_out
Summary: Crystal and Gigi have been best friends for as long as they can remember. The problem is, they’re in love with each other, and they don’t know it.- 90’s college lesbians
Relationships: Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	1. Convinced

**September 1992**   
**New York, New York**

Crystal sat by herself in the courtyard of the art building, her sketchbook open on the table. Her reference picture in one hand and a pencil in the other, she continued the sketch she had started during class. A light breeze blew throughout the courtyard as the sun slowly began its descent into the buildings that towered around her. Crystal smiled to herself subconsciously, completely content. Laughter echoed around the courtyard from different groups of art kids, music majors, whoever decided to find some peace within the mural covered brick walls.

The curly haired girl stuck out like a sore thumb, her auburn frizz and bright clothes clashing horribly with the dark green table she was seated at. But she was happy. Crystal had been accepted into the art program on a scholarship, and with less than a month in it, she already felt right at home. Everything around her just felt familiar. She looked up at the clock that stood center amidst the tables and realized she should probably get back to her apartment, not having noticed the die down of voices around her as time went by. Closing her sketch book, she turned to tuck it and her reference picture into her bag, turning back to see three boys that had slid onto the bench opposite her. Her many bracelets clicked against the table as she stood and gave them an awkward smile. She started to walk away but they all stood, as if choreographed, and blocked her. Crystal blinked once and then took a step back, laughing nervously. Since being at the college, she was able to successfully avoid the jock-type assholes that seemed to all carry inflated egos from being official ‘adults.’ Yeah, right. She moved again to leave and when one of them grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back, she knew that something was wrong.

Her classmates had warned her of the dangers of being out in this area of New York, but what was the point of being closeted if she wasn’t ashamed of who she was? Besides, her outfits alone already screamed lesbian. She had been out since high school, no point backtracking now.

“What do you want?” she asked quietly, not wanting to start trouble. She just needed to get home and finish her sketch. The three looked at each other and before Crystal knew it, the boy in the center had punched her in the jaw. Her hand flew to cradle the side of her face, and she received two more punches in the face before she tripped over her doc martens and landed on her ass.

“We don’t take kindly to dykes trying to overrun our school.” he sneered, to which she looked up at him and spat out a ‘fuck you,’ earning herself a kick to the stomach from the second douchebag. She was about to be kicked more before the third boy put his hand on the boys’ shoulders. Crystal looked up at him and saw the hesitance in his eyes.

“Let’s get out of here.” he told the two of them, their eye contact maintaining for a second before the three left, the two aggressors high-fiving before they disappeared from sight. Crystal sat on the ground for a moment longer, processing what just happened. The shock now wearing off, she was able to stand, although it hurt like a bitch. Now she understood what her peers had meant. She wiped her nose, her hand coming away slightly bloody. God dammit. Setting off towards her apartment, she briefly thought about what her roommate would think.

Oh god, her roommate.

Gigi Goode, her best friend for as long as she could remember, was nothing short of literal perfection. The brunette attended the same college as Crystal for the fashion program, and the two were the only students from their high school class to attend this college. It seemed only natural to room together. She was tall, slender, and dressed more stylishly than anyone Crystal had ever met. They got along swimmingly, and adjusted really well to college life, except for one tiny problem. Crystal was hopelessly in love with her. That made things a little more difficult on her part, seeing as Gigi didn’t know.

There was one occasion, during a sleepover the week of graduation, that Crystal had almost admitted it to her. But her green eyes had met Gigi’s sparkling blue ones, and she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t potentially ruin the best thing that had ever happened to her. So she bit her tongue, kept it to herself, and it was slowly eating her alive. For all she knew, Gigi was straight, and if Crystal had to deal with her emotions by hating every single one of Gigi’s boyfriends, she would. Coincidentally, Gigi had broken up with her last boyfriend the night of that sleepover, finally listening to Crystal and ditching the boy that didn’t treat her the way she deserved whatsoever. The two had been elated, and Crystal’s big secret would have ruined the whole night. She was convinced of it.

Managing to ignore stares from passerby, she fumbled with the key to the apartment, opening the door to silence. Gigi wasn’t home yet. Crystal set her bag down and went into the bathroom, shutting the door. She faced herself in the mirror, biting her lip as tears began to slowly slide down her face. She was honestly surprised she had been able to suppress them for that long. Her left eye, the corner of her mouth and cheek, the underside of her jaw- they were already turning ungodly shades of purple, and she had a pretty nasty bloody nose. She had just grabbed a towel and was running it under the faucet of the sink when she heard the door open and close, Gigi undoubtedly arriving home from her small after school job. Curse their almost perfectly aligned schedules.

—

Gigi stepped into the apartment to see Crystal’s discarded bag laying in the middle of the hall. She took her own bag off of her shoulder and set it down, hanging Crystal’s up next to hers.

“Crys? Should I order pizza or do you want leftovers?” she called into the quiet apartment. It was too quiet. She waited for a response, and when she got none, she ventured into their shared bedroom. The light from the bathroom seeped into the dark room from under the door, and Gigi knew Crystal was in there. What she didn’t know was why she was hiding.

“Crystal?” she knocked on the door, hearing Crystal turn the running water off.

“Yes?” was the apprehensive response she received. Her voice was off. Something was wrong. Maybe Crystal had just watched something sad on the tv or maybe she had read about the local shelter in the newspaper again. That usually worked her up. But that wasn’t the tone in her voice. She sounded almost.. scared. Gigi leaned against the door, trying to hear what she was doing.

“Will you let me in?” she tried. There were a few beats of silence before the lock on the bathroom door clicked, allowing Gigi to open the door and see Crystal looking back at her. She gasped, Crystal’s lip trembling as more tears inevitably flowed forth.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Gigi rushed out, quickly stepping into the bathroom and getting closer to the shaking girl in front of her, Crystal hiding her face in her hands. One of their towels was on the countertop, stained in blood from the bloody nose that she had tried to wipe away, but hadn’t had enough time before Gigi arrived home. She gently took hold of Crystal’s wrists and brought them away from her face, meeting the shining green eyes of the shorter girl. Crystal mumbled something out about getting into a fight and Gigi frowned. She knew Crystal better than the back of her hand, and she would never in a million years get into a fight, not to mention a physical one. She reached over and grabbed the washcloth from the counter, gingerly running it under her nose and holding it there, Crystal closing her eyes. It all felt way too familiar.

Freshman year of high school, Crystal had come out, and subsequently been punched in the eye a few days later. She sat in Gigi’s bathroom, grinning like an idiot while Gigi held a cold cloth over her eye to keep it from swelling. She thought to herself that Crystal looked beautiful, even with a currently blackening eye, and her ears had turned red, although Crystal didn’t notice because she was too busy smiling and mumbling _I did it._ The two had laughed the entire night, and Gigi was so proud of her. Her Crystal had come out into a world that wasn’t generally nice or accepting, her Crystal had been punched for it and didn’t hardly care because she was out and happy about it, her Crystal- that wasn’t hers. She remembered the two of them laying in her bed around 3 am, Crystal asleep and in her arms, and Gigi wanted nothing more than to stay like that forever. But she wasn’t like Crystal, she wasn’t brave enough to be who she was. She was also too afraid to tell Crystal how she really felt, completely convinced she would ruin their friendship. It would make Gigi seem assuming. She was sure of it.

Gigi led Crystal out of the bathroom and sat the two of them down on the bed. She wiped her tears away with her thumbs gently, looking at her with a determined gaze.

“What happened?” she asked her again pointedly, Crystal taking a deep breath and sighing shakily.

“Some jocks punched me once or twice.” Gigi raised an eyebrow, reading straight through Crystal. She knew she wasn’t telling her everything. Crystal bit her lip.

“They hit me because I’m gay,” she held up her hand at the rise of anger in Gigi’s expression.

“I don’t care why they did it, it just kinda hurts like a bitch.” she said sheepishly. Gigi cupped her face gently and gave her a hug, Crystal tensing before melting into it, resting her chin on Gigi’s shoulder. They pulled away and Gigi searched her face for anything else she might be hiding, but didn’t find anything.

“I know being out is tough, but I’m here for you, and I’m really proud of you, Crys.” Gigi smiled at her and a smile graced Crystal’s features, leaving Gigi somewhat breathless as she was pulled into another hug.

“Now do you want pizza or not?” Gigi laughed and Crystal smiled.

“Pizza sounds amazing right now,” and as Gigi was standing to go, Crystal took her hand from where she was sitting on the bed. Butterflies sprang to her stomach, and she cursed herself internally.

“Thank you, Geeg. You’re an amazing friend.”

It felt like ice traveling was through her bloodstream, but Gigi smiled at her nonetheless and left the bedroom. As soon as she was gone, Crystal threw herself back against the bed, covering her face in her hands. Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ lesbian. She could still feel where Gigi had been holding her, she could still feel where Gigi had cupped her face. God dammit, Crystal. Why can’t you just say what you feel?

Gigi dialed the number in the kitchen and while she listened to the drone of the phone ringing, she bit her lip. It felt like what she had imagined was finally being confirmed, but she wasn’t expecting to be so hurt by it. Looking down at her hand, she could almost imagine it was still clasped in Crystal’s. For the love of all that’s good, Gigi, why can’t you just say what you feel?

It would make things so much easier.


	2. Crazy For You

** Early December 1992 **

** New York, New York **

A few months later, everything was back to normal. Finals for the semester were starting to roll around, and both girls were up to their eyes in either paint or fabric of some sort. It wasn’t an uncommon sight to arrive home to either one passed out on the couch with an unfinished project in hand. 

One evening, Gigi arrived home to Crystal asleep against the coffee table with her forehead pressed dangerously close to an open set of oil paints that threatened to spill everywhere if she made any sudden movements. A small smile tugged at the corners of Gigi’s mouth as she made her way over and carefully moved Crystal’s painting out of the way, something she had watched her slave over for the past several weeks. Reaching over to close the capsules of oil paints, she could see smudges of yellow and orange accidentally splattered across the shorter girl’s cheeks. Did Crystal always have freckles? Gigi shook her head, her own cheeks and nose flushing a little pink. Of course she’s always had freckles, Geeg, don’t be silly. After successfully preventing disaster, she stood and went back towards where she had set her bag down, toeing off her shoes and neatly lining them up next to Crystal’s. She went ahead and straightened Crystal’s shoes as well, almost laughing at the haphazard way the red head threw around her possessions. 

Making her way into the kitchen, she hummed softly to herself, rummaging around as quietly as possible to make the two some form of dinner. The definition of the word differed after entering college. The smell of store bought mac and cheese seemed to wake Crystal and she sat up, blinking once or twice before registering where she was and what time it was. She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, only smearing the colors more, but she either didn’t know or chose not to care. She walked over to where Gigi was at the stove and wrapped her arms around the taller girl’s waist, giving her a hug that almost startled her. 

“Thanks for keeping me from ruining my painting,” she laughed, and Gigi smiled to herself, trying her very hardest to ignore her heart thumping in her chest. 

“Of course, baby.” Now it was Crystal’s turn to blush. Pet names from Gigi were nothing new, but she somehow managed to get flustered by them every time. Curse you, lesbian brain. The two stayed in that position before Gigi was turning around in her arms, their noses brushing. 

“I need to get to the bowls, Crys.” Gigi’s sparkling blue eyes crinkled at the corners in a smile and Crystal laughed, releasing her from the hug. Their backs now turned to each other, both girls wondered if the other had noticed a certain redness in their cheeks. 

How were they going to continue like this?

—

Around 11 p.m. about a week later, Crystal rolled over in bed, frowning at the absence of a certain Georgina Goode that should be asleep next to her. She sat up, her curls even more messy than usual and rubbed her eyes with the base of her palms, accommodating the light streaming in from their living room. She walked in to find Gigi sitting on the couch with yards and yards of bright red velvet fabric strewn around her. It appeared that she was in the middle of hemming a dress Crystal knew to be inspired by Julia Roberts, and she had a few pins in between her teeth. Even sleep deprived and stressed, she looked stunning. Crystal shook her head. No, lesbian brain. Not right now. 

Crystal sat down across from her and she glanced up once, visibly relaxing slightly, but then immediately focusing on not screwing up the hem of the dress. After a few moments, she sat back, pulled the pins out of her mouth and smiled, looking up at Crystal. 

“Now all I have to do is make some matching gloves and try it on,” she ran a hand through her hair, and Crystal offered her a sleepy simper. She had been working on this dress for the better half of a month, designing and erasing, sewing and then rummaging around to find a seam ripper about three seconds after she started, asking Crystal ‘rhinestones or no rhinestones?’ Crystal was always in favor of rhinestones, but she knew that Gigi only asked her to decide if  _ she _ really wanted rhinestones. It was adorable nonetheless. 

“Well then get started, Miss Goode.” Crystal raised an eyebrow at her, standing and folding all the excess fabric the way she knew Gigi liked while Gigi retrieved some white fabric to quickly make some fitted gloves. Crystal couldn’t help but notice the way her tongue would slightly poke out of her mouth in concentration as she worked, or the way she would puff air out of her nose in slight frustration every so often. It was just so utterly cute that Crystal hardly registered Gigi standing up with a wide grin, holding the dress and gloves in her arms. 

“I’m gonna go try it on, I’ll be right back!” she exclaimed excitedly, Crystal nodding in an absentminded manner while setting down the fabric. She remembered a time when they were juniors in high school that Gigi had just finished her first garment, a 70’s inspired silver jumpsuit. She was so excited, and Crystal sat on Gigi’s bed, waiting for her to come back out and model it in her room. She looked around at all of the magazine cutouts Gigi had pasted on her wall for inspiration, all of her designs that she had tacked up for later. Crystal was in the middle of looking at a few pictures of Brooke Shields when she felt Gigi tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and her jaw dropped, Gigi’s then permed hair bouncing against her shoulders as she did a little spin to show off the whole outfit.  _Woah_ ,  Crystal had muttered.  She was the picture of perfection. Gigi had raised an eyebrow coyly at her, rubbing her arm.  _ What do you think?  _ Crystal laughed softly, shaking her head. _ You look beautiful. _

“Crys, can you help me really quick?” Gigi called from their bedroom, allowing Crystal to jolt from her memory and step through the doorway, her breath catching in her throat. Gigi had her white gloves on and her dress pulled up, unzipped in the back. One hand was holding her hair away from the zipper and the other was pressed against the front delicately to stop it from falling off of her thin frame. Crystal’s sock feet padded over to her, and with slightly shaking hands, she carefully zipped up the dress, Gigi letting her hair fall once her hands were removed. She turned and gazed at Crystal, her cheeks slightly rosy. If she had looked stunning earlier, she looked absolutely ethereal now. 

“What do you think?” Gigi broke the silence, the light from the living room casting a soft glow that caught her pristine blue eyes. 

“You look like a princess about to go to the ball.” Crystal breathed out in a mutter, as if anything louder would ruin the moment. She held her hand out and Gigi placed her own into Crystal’s grasp, giggling as Crystal spun her around. The slightly shorter girl pulled her out into the living room so she could model her creation properly, turning to the CD player the two had invested in and hitting play, not checking whatever was inside. One of Crystal’s Madonna CDs started to play and both girls immediately recognized  _ Crazy For You _ coming from the speakers. Crystal felt her mouth run dry as she slowly turned back around to face Gigi, something unreadable in her expression. They stared at each other before Crystal slowly walked over and extended her hand once more. Gigi’s gloved fingers slid into Crystal’s and she gently pulled the girl in so they were slow dancing around the room. 

The moonlight streamed through the window and caught both of them as they passed through it, lighting up Gigi’s soft makeup she had yet to take off. The brunette could see remnants of glitter around Crystal’s eyes. Both girls could feel the other’s breath against their cheeks. Gigi was humming the tune of the song quietly, and it made Crystal want to close her eyes, but she kept them open for fear that she may never experience this again. The chorus of the song hit and both girls expected the feeling of the room to become awkward, but it created an even heavier atmosphere, the two slowly coming to a stop without even realizing it. Gigi was suddenly hyper aware of Crystal’s hand on the small of her back, her own hand on Crystal’s shoulder. Green eyes met blue eyes and almost in slow motion, Crystal leaned in and pressed her lips against Gigi’s. 

Time seemed to completely come to a halt, and nothing else mattered. Gigi’s hand moved to cup Crystal’s face, her thumb flitting across her lightly freckled cheek as she leaned more into it. She was kissing Crystal. Crystal was kissing her. It was right in a way that nothing else could ever live up to, in a way that neither of them could have imagined, although they had tried. They pulled away after what felt like a long awaited eternity, the music now forgotten and droning on in the background. There was a pause before Crystal slowly drew in a breath. 

“I love you.”

Crystal blinked, Gigi also seeming to register the fact that she had been the one to say it. Her cheeks and shoulders flushed pink in a way that made her look so beautiful, so completely statuesque that it  _ hurt_. Crystal beamed up at her. 

“I love you too.” she watched Gigi’s shoulders relax and her smile return, the two giggling as Crystal wrapped her arm further around Gigi’s waist to dip her and slot their lips together once more. Gigi tangled her fingers in Crystal’s curls, neither one of them breaking the kiss as Crystal carefully pulled her back upright. With Crystal’s arms around her waist and her own arms wrapped around her neck, everything in the world seemed to click into place. Color was more vibrant, the way that Gigi’s eyes sparkled at Crystal,  _ because _ of Crystal, was fantastic. 

There were so many things that needed to be discussed, so many trials they were going to face, but in that moment, they both silently understood that they were going to face them together, Gigi and Crystal, forever and always. 

No matter what the world would throw at them, everything was going to be so much easier. 

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a happy ending, I promise, but I thought I’d let y’all stew first :))


End file.
